It's extremely near-sighted to not realize that the football program has the highest ROI of any sport in the university and helps fund many of the other sports. The entire university community has embraced the "U" that was essentially created by the football program.
Thinking outside the box is in no way, shape, or form "dumb" LCE. It shows a tremendous amount of intellect and foresight. It's obviously what these other cash cow universities have done.
Does being a private university hinder us in any way?